Track-gage.



L. W. KRAKE.

max GAGE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, I916- 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

1,21 1,180. Patented Jan. 2,1917.

WITNESSES: INVE/V TOR A ham/5Y8 I: rsnrns ca. lmomuma. WASNING mm o. c.

L. W. KRAKE.

TRACK GAGE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9. I916.

Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- l/VVE/VTOR LZWSWAEWKE WITNESSES:

A T T ORA/E Y8 fused LEWIS w. KRAKE, or sca ner, WISCONSIN.

TRACK-GAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

Application filed May 9, 1916. Serial No. 96,328.

To all whom it may concern,-

Be it known that I, Lnwis 'W. KRAKE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bonduel, in the county of Shawano and State of Wisconsin, have invented an Improvement in Track-Gages, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improvement in geometrical instruments and has particular reference to a gage for determining variations in the Widths of railroad tracks.

The present-invention is designed for the purpose of inspecting tracks to determine the location of any spreading thereof and to this end there is provided a pair of track engaging elements movable relative to each other and adapted to be adjusted upon a track and actuated by variations in the width of the latter to operate an indicating device of novel construction and arrangement, which determines the amount of such variation.

The inventive idea involved is capable of receivingv a variety of mechanical expressions, one of which, for the purpose of illustrating the invention, is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of the gage constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section taken through one of the track engaging elements and adjacent parts. Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77 of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the indicating devices and associated parts. Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view of a bearing in connection with the invention.

There is illustrated in the drawings what is now believed to be a preferred form of the invention in which a suitable car 10 is provided at the front thereof with downwardly inclined supporting hangers 11 the lower ends of which are provided with shaft bearings 12 having plates 13 which are secured to the lower ends of the hangers 11. The plate 13 is provided with a bolt opening 14 and also a slot15 for receiving a bolt whereby derailment of the gage will be prevented, owing to the sidewise movement of the platform of the car 10 during its travel over the track. The bearing 12 is also Pro d th oppositely d sposed slots 16 width of the track.

for receiving a pin 17 which also extends through a transverse opening 18' formed in the shaft 19. v

This shaft 19 is stationary and has mount.- ed on eachend thereof a rotatable track engaging element'20, preferably in the form of a flanged wheel, which is movable longitudinally of said shaft. Intermediate the ends of the shaft 19 the same has secured thereto and extending forwardly therefrom a U-shaped bracket 21 which supports at its forward end a horizontally or diagonally arranged platform 22 having a scale 23 marked thereon to indicate variations in the a An indicator actuating arm 24 is slidably mounted in suitable bearings 25 secured to the shaft 19 at each side of the platform 22 andone end of each of the arms 24 is provided with an indicator 26 which passes over the scale 23. The end of the arm 24 opposite that to which the indicator 26 is secured is providedwith a rearwardly extending portion 27 bifurcated to form a U-shaped yoke 28 which fits in a groove 29 formed by a flange 30 atthe inner end of the h b by each element 20.

The rear of the platform 22 is provided with an extension 31 to which is pivoted at 32- on the underside of the platform an operating lever 33 to the rear extremity of which is connected oneend of a link 34 the other end of said link having pivotally connected thereto at 35 one end of a similar link 36 the other end of which is pivoted at 37 to the actuating arm 24 at the left of Fig. 1. Intermediate the pivot point'32 of the lever 33 and the forward extremity of the latter the same has pivoted thereto one end of a link 38 similar to the link 34 and likewise having pivoted thereto one end of a link 39, similar to the link 36, which at its other end is pivoted at 40 to the actuating arm 24 at the right of Fig. 1. It will thus be seen that when the operating lever 33 is swung about its pivot 32 to the dotted line position in Fig.1 the arms 24 will also be moved to the dotted line position, through the medium of theseries of links and thus draw the track engaging elements 20 in-, wardly until the indicators 26 have reached the dotted line position, at which point said elements 20 will be a distance apart equal to the proper the gage may be placed upon, the track at the beginning of the testing operation. In order to retain the parts in dotted line posiwidth of the track whereupon tion just described while the gag'e is being placed upon the track one end of a spring locking member 41 is secured to the underside of the platform 22, the free extremity 42 of said member 41 being bent rearwardly and adapted to project into a recess 43 formed in the bottom of the platform 22 when the lever 33 engages said member and forces the same inwardly. After the lever passes over the spring member the same returns to its normal position, as shown in Fig. 7, whereupon the lever 33 will be engaged by the rearwardly extending extremity 42 and thus prevented from returning to its normal position.

Means are associated with each of the track engaging elements 20 for at all times exerting-an outward pressure thereagainst whereby the flange thereof is constantly caused to engage the inner side of the rail. upon which the element bears. This means preferably includes a cylinder 44 associated with each element 20 and mounted upon the shaft 19. The cylinder is closed at its outer end and engages the flange 30 and is retained in such position by means of a spring 45 mounted in the cylinder and coiled about the shaft, one end ofthe spring engaging the closed end of the cylinder while the other end of said spring abuts against a fixed flange 46 on said shaft 19, said flange 46 closing the inner end of the cylinder 44. The cylinder is provided in the bottom thereof with a longitudinal slot 47 which receives therein the shank of the adjacent bearing 25 when the cylinder is moved inwardly on the shaft.

It will thus be apparent that when the lever 33 is released from behind the locking member 41 the action of the spring 45 will cause the cylinders 44 to move outwardly and forcevthe flanges of the elements 20 against the inner sides of the rails if the same are farther apart than the regulation distance. This outward movement of the cylinders 44 operates upon the arms 24 to also move the same outwardly and longitudinally of the shaft 19 whereby the indicators 26 are adjusted along the scale 23 and by referring to said scale the amount of spreading of the rails can be determined. As the vehicle 10 moves over the track any variations in the width thereof will be instantly recorded upon the scale 23.

What is claimed is:

1. A gage mechanismfor tracks comprising a shaft, track engaging elements movable longitudinally thereof, manually operated means for adjusting said track engaging elements in opposite directions whereby the same may be fitted between the rails of a track, and means automatically operated by movements of said elements due to variations in the distance between said rails and connected to said manually operated means for indicating the amount of such variations 2. A gage mechanism for tracks comprising a shaft, track engaging elements movable longitudmally thereof, manually operated means for adjusting said track engaging elements in opposite directions whereby the same may be fitted between the rails of a track, and indicators associated with the manually operated means and actuated by the movements of said elements due to variations in the distance between said rails for registering the amount of such variations.

3. A gage mechanism for tracks comprising yieldably mounted track engaging elements movable relatively to each other, indicating devices associated with said elements, and means connected to said devices for manually adjusting the same and said track engaging elements in opposite directions.

4. A gage mechanism for tracks comprising yieldably mounted track engaging elements movable relatively to each other, indicating devices associated with said elements, means connected to said devices for manually adjusting the same and said track engaging elements in opposite directions, and means for releasably retaining the last named means in its adjusted position.

5. A gage mechanism for tracks comprising a shaft, track engaging elements rotatably mounted on said shaft and movable longitudinally of said shaft and relatively to each other, yieldable means for constantly maintaining said elements in engagement with the rails of a track, and incheating means connected to said track engaging elements, and operated by the relative movement therebetween to ascertain the amount of said movement.

6. In a gage mechanism for tracks, the combination of a vehicle, hangers extending forwardly and downwardly therefrom, a stationary shaft carried by said hangers, yieldably mounted track engaging elements movable longitudinally of said shaft, manually operated means for adjusting said track engaging elements in opposite directions on said shaft whereby the same may be fitted between the rails of a track, and means connected to said manually operated means and operated by the movements of said elements due to variations in the distance between the rails of a track, for indieating the amount of said variations.

In a gage mechanism for tracks, the combination of a vehicle, hangers extending forwardly and downwardly therefrom, a stationary shaft carried by said hangers, yieldably mounted track engaging elements movable longitudinally of said shaft, manually operated means for adjusting said traelr engaging elements in opposite directions on said shaft whereby the same may .be fitted between the rails of a track, means connected to said manually operated means and operated by the movements of said elements due to variations in the distance between the rails of a track for indicating the amount of said variations, and a platform extending forwardly from said shaft and having a scale thereon over which the last named means is movable.

8. A gage mechanism for tracks comprising a shaft, track engaging elements rotatably mounted upon said shaft and movable longitudinally thereof and in opposite directions, means mounted upon the shaft for constantly maintaining said track engaging elements in engagement with the rails of the track, indicating means actuated by the lastnamed means to register the amount of longitudinal movement of the track engaging elements on said shaft, and means for manually adjusting said indicating means to move said track engaging elements in opposite directions on said Shaft.

9. A gage mechanism for tracks comprising a shaft, track engaging elements rotatably mounted upon said shaft and movable longitudinally thereof, spring actuated means mounted upon said shaft and engaging said track engaging elements for forcing the same outwardly whereby to constantly engage the rails of the track when the distance between the same varies, indicator actuating arms supported by said shaft and movable longitudinally thereof, one end of each arm being connected to one of said track engaging elements, an indicator carried by the other end of each arm, and a scale associated with said indicators for registering the amount of movement of said track engaging elements on said shaft.

10. A gage mechanism for tracks comprising a shaft, track engaging elements rotatably mounted upon said shaft and movable longitudinally thereof, spring actuated means mounted upon said shaft and engaging said track engaging elements for forcing the same outwardly whereby to constantly engage the rails of the track when the distance between the same varies, indicator actuating arms supported by said shaft and movable longitudinally thereof, one end of each arm being connected to one of said.

track engaging elements, an indicator carried by the other end of each arm, a platform supported by said shaft forwardly thereof, a scale associated with said indicators for registering the amount of movement of said track engaging elements on said shaft, and means pivoted to said platform and connected to said indicator actuating arms for manually adjusting the same in opposite directions on said shaft.

11. A gage mechanism for tracks comprising a shaft having fixed abutments thereon, track engaging elements rotatably mounted thereon and movable longitudinally thereof, each of said elements being provided with a groove and a flange contiguous to said groove, a cylinder mounted on said shaft and associated with each of said track engaging elements, one end of said cylinder engaging the flange of the element, the other end of said cylinder being closed by one of the fixed abutments on said shaft, a spring mounted in each cylinder and engaging said abutment for normally forcing the track engaging element outwardly, an indicator actuating arm associated with each track engaging element and having one end engaging a groove in said element whereby said arm is adjusted when the track engaging element is moved longitudinally of the shaft, an inclicator carried by the other end of each arm, and a scale associated with said indicators for determining the amount of longitudinal movement of said track engaging elements.

12. A gage mechanism for tracks comprising a shaft having fixed abutments thereon, track engaging elements rotatably mounted thereon and movable longitudinally thereof, each of said elements being provided with a groove and a flange contiguous to said groove, a cylinder mounted on said shaft and associated with each of said track engaging elements, one end of said cylinder engaging the flange of the element, the other end of said cylinder being closed by one of the fixed abutments on said shaft, a spring mounted in each cylinder and engaging said abutment for normally forcing the track engaging element outwardly, an indicator actuating arm associated with each track engaging element and having one end engaging a groove in said element whereby said arm is adjusted when the track engaging element is moved longitudinally of the shaft, an indicator carried by the other end of each arm, a scale associated with said indicators for determining the amount of longitudinal movement of said track engaging elements, and pivoted means connected to said indicator actuating arms and manually operated to adjust said indicators and track engaging elements in opposite directions.

LEWIS W. KRAKE. Witnesses:

ADoLPH SPENGLER, ELMER SPENGLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

